Apparently, the Bush Administration does not believe a confirmation vote is necessary. Frank Lockwood at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Bible Belt Blogger, whose impartial reporting has been invaluable throughout the nomination process, reports Holsinger has resigned from the board of a conservative seminary and confides to friends "the president plans to appoint him to
the post anyway once the Congress goes into its holiday recess."

A recess appointment would be allow Holsinger to serve until the end of 2008.

Holsinger has been roundly criticized for previous anti-gay positions and the American Public Health Association opposed his nomination. Gay rights groups were concerned over his previous controversial positions on homosexuality, biology and religion, and, the ex-gay ministry at the United Methodist Church that he co-founded. The right-wing is also opposed to Holsinger's positions in stem-cell research. It is unlikely that he will be confirmed. Holsinger would succeed Dr. Richard Carmona, who told Congress last summer that the Bush Administration routinely interfered with the surgeon general's office for political purposes.

19 July 2007

New reports suggest controversial Surgeon General-nominee Dr. James Holsinger will not be confirmed because Health Committee Chairman Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) "might block the nomination by refusing to schedule a committee vote to send the matter to the full Senate."

12 July 2007

Confirmation hearings begin on the nomination of Dr. James Holsinger as the Bush Administration's new Surgeon General. Holsinger responds to critics who accuse him of being anti-gay, saying he is "deeply troubled personally by these claims, which do not reflect who I
am, what I believe or how I have practiced medicine for the past 40
years."

· Clay Cane debuts on Advocate.com with a profile of the ballroom community and chronicles its explosion since the landmark filmParis is Burning. Unfortunately, he notes, "tolerance isn’t a given within the gay" community and some continue to stereotype "ball culture as something seedy. 'As far as gay people who
are not into the ballroom scene, it’s like we’re ostracized, says
Glenn Lacroix, who entered the ball scene in 1991.

· Report: Social networking powerhouse Facebook will not allow anyone to register with the surname "Gay" but "had no problem
allowing us to join with the last name 'Hitler.'"

· An update to the case we previously reported on the homeless Chicago lesbian who was denied a bed at a faith-based shelter. The New Life Shelter has reached a settlement agreement that ensures it will never discriminate based on sexual orientation. All employees will be require dto undergo periodic sensitivity training.

Dr. Richard Carmona is seen above and between Drs. C. Everett Koop, surgeon general in the Reagan Administration, and Dr. David Satcher, surgeon general during the Clinton Administration and the first year of the current administration. Each testified under oath before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and complained about political interference, which has apparently reached epic proportions.

Carmona said Bush administration political appointees censored his speeches and kept him from talking out publicly about certain issues, including the science on embryonic stem cell research, contraceptives and his misgivings about the administration's embrace of "abstinence-only" sex education...

"Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is ignored, marginalized or simply buried...The problem with this approach is that in public health, as in a democracy, there is nothing worse than ignoring science, or marginalizing the voice of science for reasons driven by changing political winds. The job of surgeon general is to be the doctor of the nation, not the doctor of a political party," Carmona added.

Carmona also says he was required to mention President Bush's name at least three times per page.

Dr. Satcher says the Clinton Administration "discouraged him from issuing a report showing needle-exchange programs were effective in reducing disease. He released the report anyway. Dr. Koop [says] he had been discouraged by top officials in the Reagan administration from discussing the AIDS crisis. He did so anyway."

Tomorrow, confirmation hearings begin on Dr. James Holsinger, the Bush Administration's nominee to become Surgeon General. Holsinger's appointment has been bitterly opposed by gay rights groups who are concerned over his previous controversial positions on homosexuality, biology and religion. The right-wing is also opposed to his positions in stem-cell research. It is unlikely that he will be confirmed.

The Bush administration says the white paper reflected the scientific
understanding of the time, but it reads like a veneer of science
cloaking an aversion to homosexuality. The committee should examine
whether Dr. Holsinger cherry-picked the literature or represented it
objectively. Most important, it must determine whether Dr. Holsinger
holds these benighted views today. The Senate should not confirm a
surgeon general who considers practicing homosexuals abnormal and
diseased.

09 July 2007

Later this week, the Senate will begin what was expected to be very divisive confirmation hearings on Dr. James Holsinger, the Bush Administration's nominee for Surgeon General. Holsinger's appointment has been bitterly opposed by gay rights groups who are concerned over his previous controversial positions on homosexuality, biology and religion.

The hearings should be much more contentious than expected: The right wing is opposed to his record on stem cell research. Bible Belt Blogger brings our attention toThe Washington Times:

Tom McCluskey, vice president for government affairs at the Family
Research Council, said that Dr. Holsinger spoke to a Kentucky state
legislature committee in 2002 and "testified in support of loosening
regulations around cloning and embryonic-stem-cell research."

"We're
not supportive of his nomination right now," Mr. McCluskey said, adding
that "we've been told he's come around on the issue, but the surgeon
general is such a strong bully pulpit position that we want to be sure."

Apparently, the social conservatives have telegraphed their talking points to the Republican members of the Senate Health, Education, and Labor Committee. The newspaper contacted every member of the panel and found, as reported previously, found no Democratic support. However, "the five Republicans who did respond to requests for comment—including ranking member Sen. Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming—were noncommittal and gave no indications of support for Dr. Holsinger."

29 June 2007

The Senate Health, Education, and Labor Committee announced confirmation hearings will begin on July 12 for Dr. James Holsinger, the Bush Administration's nominee for Surgeon General. Holsinger's curriculum vitae includes homophobic and scientifically inaccurate statements, opposing gay and lesbian clergy in the United Methodist Church and founding an ex-gay ministry.

Bible Belt Blogger reports the Bush Administration is backpedaling on Holsinger's 1991 paper that described gay sex as "unnatural", referring to the document as "a compilation of studies that were available at that time."

28 June 2007

Some updates to the case of Dr. James Holsinger, the White House's controversial nominee to become the next surgeon general. You'll recall, Holsinger's record includes a 1991
position paper that described gay sex as unnatural and unhealthy, opposition to a lesbian pastor, and, his role in co-founding an "ex-gay" ministry. Have his positions evolved?

We don't know and The Cincinnati Postsays it's high time for the White House to lift the gag rule preventing Holsinger from speaking to reporters:

If Holsinger plans to base his health initiatives on previously expressed views that gay sex is unnatural and unhealthy and wrong, if he believes gays and lesbians are second-class citizens who don't have the same rights as heterosexuals (as a church board member he voted to expel a lesbian clergy member), then there's not much benefit in continuing.

Under such a scenario, Holsinger wouldn't stand a chance of being approved, and shouldn't be, and he should withdraw his name now to save time and the trouble of a doomed confirmation process.

Dr. James Holsinger has been praised for positions he took as chancellor of the University of Kentucky Medical
Center, such as when he defied conservative legislators who criticized a session on lesbian health issues at a health conference. However, the anti-gay writings and Holsinger's religious work have remained center stage.

19 June 2007

More opposition to Dr. James Holsinger, the Bush Administration's controversial nominee to become the next surgeon general. Dr. Joycelyn Elders, former Surgeon General in the first Clinton Administration, toldArkansas Democrat-Gazette Religion Editor Frank Lockwood, "It would be very difficult for me to feel that this is the person that we should be confirming in this day and time with all the problems we have, related to sexual heath and all the problems we’re getting into ... It’s very disturbing to me when someone does not feel that all people are equal, irregardless to our sexual orientation."

Also, some frank discussion on HIV and black gay men, often ignored in the media and especially on the religion pages: "When 56 percent of the young black gay men in our
nation’s capital are HIV positive, that’s higher than in sub-Saharan
Africa. How can we say that we’re a sexually healthy nation."

Holsinger's record includes opposition to a lesbian pastor, a 1991 position paper that described gay sex as unnatural and unhealthy, and, his role in co-founding a congregation that operates an "ex-gay" ministry. Dr. Joyceleyn Elders is no stranger to controversy; in 1994, President Clinton fired her Jafter she told a forum on AIDS that children “perhaps should be taught” masturbation.

The Kentucky cardiologist's record is being challenged by gay rights groups after documentation surfaced that he voted to expel a lesbian pastor from the United Methodist Church and wrote a 1991 position paper that described gay sex as unnatural and unhealthy. Holsinger also helped found a Methodist congregation that operates an "ex-gay" ministry.

Louisville's WHAS-TV reports McConnell says "Holsinger has had a distinguished career" but avoided any predictions on what is expected to be a bruising confirmation battle: "When asked about Holsinger’s chances of winning Senate
confirmation, McConnell replied, “I think it’s pretty early in the
process, so it’s very difficult to know where it stands.”

McConnell's boasts a lackluster record on civil- and gay-rights. He has voted against expanding employment discrimination and hate crimes definitions, and, has been one of the chief defenders of the Bush Administration's much-criticized warrantless wiretapping program. McConnell has also been an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage, and, ironically, he and his wife, Transportation Secretary, are featured in a provocative new advertising campaign that promotes marriage equality.